Starting from now, the Android developers will not be able to use Google Play Services for any application that support Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Google has mentioned that this would happen in early 2017 and it seems that the Google Play Services version 10.2 that has just been released is confirming that.
Google Play Services is offering developers many software libraries, which they can use to add features to their Android applications. However, if you are one of a few people who still own a device that runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread (the OS was released back in 2010), then this news will not make you very happy.
However, we have to tell you that you should not worry too much about this update, as the device will keep working, but any applications that you have installed will most likely not be updated anymore.
The Google Play Services 10.2 also comes with many new features, which the developers of Android applications can use. For example, if they are using Google Fit tools in their applications, they are now able to add features to monitor more health data such as blood glucose, oxygen saturation, body position, blood pressure, body temperature and more.
Applications that are using Google Maps tool will now be able to have a custom styling for polylines, polygons and circles.
To make things even better, the Android developers are now able to use the Google Sign-In API, which should make the server-side authentication easier for their applications. Some improvements have also been made to the Ads tools, as this feature has received new support for video assets to Native Advanced content ads.
As you can see, the Google Play Services 10.2 comes with changes that are made especially for the app developers only, but this will lead to better Android applications for the consumers. Unfortunately, if you are still using a device that runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, we suggest you to purchase a new device that runs on Android 5.0 or later.
